Net income increased 25 percent to $39.2 million, the
Chicago-based company said today in a statement. Earnings
excluding some items were 45 cents a share, exceeding the 42-cent average estimate of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg whose
estimates ranged from 44 cents to 39 cents. The company also
said it’s in settlement talks over a U.S. Securities and
Exchange Commission investigation and has set aside $5 million
to cover the resolution.

U.S. options trading slowed for the first time in a decade
last year after a decline in stock-market volatility reduced
investor demand for hedges. The number of contracts changing
hands fell 12 percent to a daily average of 15.9 million in
2012, according to data from the Chicago-based Options Clearing
Corp.

“It was a good fourth quarter, things look good and they
managed expenses well,” Matthew Heinz, a St. Louis, Missouri-based analyst at Stifel Nicolaus & Co., said in a phone
interview. “At the end of the day, it comes down to the overall
performance of the options market, and from that standpoint
they’re very well positioned.”

Total volume in futures on the CBOE’s Volatility Index,
known as the VIX, rose 98 percent to a record 23.79 million in
2012, according to the CBOE Futures Exchange.

SEC Investigation

The exchange operator said a year ago that the SEC was
investigating whether CBOE complied with its obligations as a
self-regulatory organization. American exchanges are required to
write rules for their markets, monitor trading and seek to
ensure that they and their customers aren’t breaking securities
laws.

The stock rose 0.5 percent to $34.46 yesterday in New York.
The Bloomberg World Exchanges Index, which includes CBOE and 24
of its peers, has gained 11 percent this year.